Total chat site for users of phone services

• 19Oct

  Broadband Phone (VoIP) Enhancements

  Phone news, Phone services No Comments

  On 8th September OFCOM delivered their modified approach to regulating access to the emergency services from Voice over Internet Protocol services (VoIP services).

  Following on from a consultation period they identified a high level of consumer confusion about access to the emergency services from VoIP services. That confusion ultimately means there is a risk of someone trying to make an emergency call from a service that does not provide access therefore wasting valuable seconds in times of distress. Although most users can reach for another phone to make emergency calls, we recognise that a small delay can result in increased risk of harm. Given this risk, and the recent rapid growth in the use of VoIP services, we’ve made some enhancements under the guidance of OFCOM to ensure that our service is compliant with OFCOMs guidelines and provides you with a safe VoIP service. The statement becomes more important as we move to Next Generation Networks where VoIP is set to play a pivatol part in the replacement of traditional voice services.

  So, heres a quick overview of the changes they made last month which we think you should know about:

  - You can now make calls to the Emergency services (999 & 112)

  - They’ve made some provisions for the delivery of location informaton on silent calls – when they create your Broadband Phone account they automatically submit your broadband fixed line location to a National Location information database which allows the Emergency Services to access your location information when you make a call to the Emergency Services (you can only have Broadband Phone if you have an active Plusnet broadband account), important for instances where you may not be able to provide the details yourself. You’ll notice that there is an area within the Broadband Phone control panel labelled ‘Emergency Contact Details’ which allows you to change this default address and add a number of other locations, which you can switch between should you be using your Broadband Phone from multiple locations. Its important to note that we do not keep track of the locations you make calls from – its up to you to keep your location information up to date, especially when you move house.

  You can find the feature on your VoIP admin pages

  There’s a detailed PDF document which explains the OFCOM statement in full on the consultation pages of OFCOMs website – it is rather heavyweight so I’d use the search function to find the area your looking for.

  Their help & Support pages now have an updated Broadband Phone FAQ which lets you know how you can take advantage of the services offered to those with special requirements. For instance, you can find out how to get a text copy of your voicemail messages and get clear print bills/call records.

  For the administration fee of £5 (inc-vat one off fee) you can select any PSTN number (01, 02 and 08 numbers only) as your outbound number. This wont affect your existing 01/02 number and you’ll simply retain all your existing numbers.

  For the full article and more click Plusnet

  

  Tags: Broadband phone, VoIP

• 19Oct

  BT launches low cost phone service BT Basic

  Phone news, Phone services No Comments

  BT Basic costs £4.50 monthly for those on benefits

  09 October 2008

  BT has launched a subsidised, cheap telephone service to help low-income families in the UK cope with the rising cost of household bills.

  BT Basics will offer cheap phone line rental costing £4.50 a month for people who receive one of three specific benefits – Income Support, income-based Job Seekers Allowance or Guaranteed Pensions Credit. This is less than half the £10.50 a month phone line rental which customers on the cheapest non-subsidised option pay.

  The phone line rental fee includes £4.50 worth of phone calls a quarter and there is no surcharge for non direct debit payments.

  Broadband users eligible

  Unlike BT’s previous social telephony offering, customers on relevant benefits who have a broadband service will be entitled to sign up to BT Basic. Under BT’s former social telephony offering – its Light User Scheme – people who had broadband were ineligible for the cheap phone deal.

  Claudio Pollack of telecoms regulator Ofcom said: ‘We welcome and support BT Basic. Special schemes provided under the Universal Service Obligation can bring real benefits for those who have difficulty affording telephony.’

  Signing up to the BT Basic phone tariff

  BT has already begun automatically transferring eligible customers on to the BT Basic phone deal from old tariffs, such as the Light User Scheme. BT will be writing to all its home phone customers already on its Light User Scheme about the BT Basic phone tariff, so there’s no need for these customers to call BT.

  BT has also started to put eligible new customers, who meet the criteria agreed with Ofcom and verified by the Department for Work and Pensions, on to the BT Basic phone deal. Customers should call 0800 783 1675 to inquire about BT Basic.

  Home phone alternatives to BT basic

  Which? telecoms expert Ceri Stanaway says: ’BT Basic is a great low cost option for eligible people on benefits who are finding it hard to cope with the rising cost of bills in the current credit crunch – but there will be many people who don’t qualify. 

  ‘If you’re not eligible for BT Basic’s phone service but think you’re paying too much for your phone bill, or you’re not happy with your home phone provider, there’s nothing stopping you from switching your phone service to a better deal.

  Click here for more details

  

  Tags: BT, Cheap telephone service, Phone service

• 19Oct

  Ofcom will deny premium-rate numbers to past phone offenders

  Phone news No Comments

  Anyone who has abused premium-rate telephone numbers in the past will be barred from using the numbers again, telecoms regulator Ofcom has said.

  Numbers beginning 070, 087 and 09 will not be available to anyone who has used phone numbers to take part in scams, frauds or other dishonesty, Ofcom said. The rules will not apply to the 0870 prefix.

  “The new test that we are introducing into our process for allocating numbers to communications providers will focus on the behaviour that uses numbers to cause serious or repeated harm to consumers,” said Ofcom in a statement. “We will identify and publish lists of individuals and companies that have a history of using numbers to cause serious or repeated harm. We will not allocate telephone numbers in certain ranges to applicants who are on those lists.”

  Numbers beginning with 09 are premium-rate numbers and can cost whatever the operator decides to charge, while 087 numbers can cost up to 10p per minute, or more from a mobile, and the company being called can share in the revenue generated.

  Numbers beginning with 070 have proved controversial because many people assume that they are mobile numbers but are in fact personal ‘fine me anywhere’ numbers that can cost 50p per minute from a landline or more from a mobile phone.

  Ofcom has previously ordered that callers to 070 where the call cost is more than 20p per minute must hear a cost warning before being connected.

  Ofcom will create two lists of people and companies who have been the subject of decisions by premium-rate regulator Phonepay Plus, the police or the Office of Fair Trading.

  “Inclusion on the list, and for how long, would depend on factors including the seriousness of the behaviour and the individual or company’s past history of using numbers to cause detriment to consumers,” said Ofcom.

  Ofcom will only refuse to allocate numbers in the case of new requests. It said that communications providers who themselves sub-allocate numbers should consult the lists and refuse to allocate their numbers to anyone on it. It said that it was trusting providers to do this, but that it would regulate directly if that hands-off approach failed.

  “We have decided, at least initially, to permit providers to take a self-regulatory approach to introducing a similar consumer protection test into their own number assignment processes. We strongly encourage all providers to do so,” it said. “Communications providers may adopt our test as a model of how consumer protection could be incorporated into number assignment decisions. We are publishing lists of individuals and companies to whom we will not be allocating numbers to help them do so.”

  “We will be monitoring progress to see if, as we expect, this approach proves to be sufficient. If it does not, we will consider whether additional regulation is required,” said Ofcom.

  Ofcom will first publish a list of people and companies who are under assessment because of past enforcement actions against them. A second list of people and companies who will be refused will be published once that assessment process has been carried out. The first ‘under assessment’ list will be published on 1st January 2009.

  News reported by itproportal

  

  Tags: Ofcom, premium rate numbers, telephone numbers

• 19Oct

  118 Telephone directories

  Phone services No Comments

  Directory enquiries services

  A few years ago there was just one telephone directory service to dial via BT and that was 192. Whereas now there are so many with varying charges and level of service.

  BT’s own phone directory service is 118500 now and seems to compare very favourably to the competition. We have listed a number of phone directory services and included their calling charges as at 18 October 2008:

  118500 – BT – Calls to 118 500 cost 23p per call plus 64p per minute or part thereof, from BT landlines (excluding BT payphones). Mobiles and other networks may vary. Website

  118888 – Conduit – Calls are charged at 9 pence per minute from a BT landline, plus connection fee of 39p, calls from other networks may vary. Website

  118118 – The Number UK Ltd – Calls to 118 118 cost 69p per call plus 25p per minute or part thereof, from landlines. Mobiles and other networks may vary. Website

  118247 – Yell.com – Calls cost 14p per minute with a 79p connection charge from most landlines. Network charges vary. Website

  

  Tags: 118 numbers, directory enquiries, phone directory

• 16Oct

  Regulation of Premium Rate Phone Numbers

  Premium Rate Phone Numbers, Telephone regulation No Comments

  PhonepayPlus, formerly ICSTIS are the regulator of Expensive Premium Rate Phone Lines.

  Expensive Premium Rate phone numbers which are charged 60p per minute through to £1.50 per minute and usually start with 0909, 0905, 0906 and 0982 etc. There are strick rules which govern how they are allowed to be used, and the governing body for this is PhonepayPlus.

  The rules in principle are a follows:

  - Premium Rate phone numbers must be properly described
  - The rates charged must be clearly shown – for example “all calls cost £1.50 per min”
  - A note about the age of the phone user – for example “You must be over 18 to use these services”
  - A note about obtaining the bill payers permission to use the phone

  If you see a Premium Rate Number being mis-advertised you can put a complaint to PhonepayPlus, as they will be keen to hear from you! You can of course telephone them too o a free phone number from the UK 0800 500 212.

  Crime and detection in the Premium Rate phone business is relatively easy as PhonepayPlus will already know the phone number and the company behind the numbers being advertised so they will be able to follow-up your complaint quickly and easily. PhonepayPlus are very much overworked and understaffed, but are still very keen hear from you and to punish any company that is not following the rules by using misleading advertising of a premium rate number.

  Some examples of the adjudications can be found here and when found guilty details of the company will be published on the PhonepayPlus site and they will usually be fined for mis-using Premium Rate Numbers.

  

  Tags: ICSTIS, PhonepayPlus, Premium Rate phone lines

• 15Oct

  Students make mobile phone news

  Phone news No Comments

  School children have been using their mobile phones and iPods to make the news as part of a BBC project to engage students with journalism.

   

  A class of 12 and 13-year-olds from Lilian Baylis Technology School in Lambeth, London transformed their personal gadgets into news-gathering devices.

  Year 8 students snapped photographs using their mobile phones and combined them with radio reports, which they recorded using an iPod or a traditional microphone.

  The result was a series of multi-media news reports available to download from the internet.

  Watch and listen to the students’ reports

  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

   

  Lambeth City Learning Centre (CLC) manager Abigail Norton, was at the school to assist students with the technology and upload their news to the CLC website.

  She said: “Using mobile phones, and other technology, in the classroom makes students feel professional and encourages them to value their work.”

  She added: “Lilian Baylis has rules about when students can and can’t use their mobile phones, but some schools won’t allow phones under any circumstances. It’s great to be working with people who are keen to investigate the educational potential of hand-held devices.”

  Making the news

  After researching the news using a collection of daily newspapers and news websites, students gathered interviews on their mobile phones. This information was used to inform their radio scripts.

  Amy, 13, writes her news script.

  Thabo, 12, said: “Normally in class, we record information in writing. Today, we wrote scripts and used technology, so it was a good balance.”

  BBC News Interactive journalist, Lucie Mclean, who specialises in mobile phones, added: “Using phones meant students could gather news quickly as they were already familiar with the technology.”

  Students also captured and listened to their own voices on their phones in preparation for the final recording.

  Teacher and head of citizenship at the school, Abi Kendall, said: “Using mobile phones to rehearse in this way means students are more confident when it comes to standing up in front of a class.”

  Gary, 12, added: “If you keep practising, you are less nervous about making a mistake.”

  The recording deadline was scheduled for 1400 and Hassan, 13, was the last of 28 students to present his report – about gun crime in south London.

  He explained: “I lost my script and had to write it out again from memory. It was a bit of a rush at the end and I felt under pressure because of the deadline but I managed to keep my cool.”

  Ivan, 12, records his news report.

  The final news reports were recorded using a traditional microphone to ensure a high-quality recording.

  During future workshops, CLC manager Abigail Norton plans to boost sound recorded using a mobile phone in an editing package, before making it available to download from the internet.

  She also plans to transfer students’ reports back to their mobile phones, enabling those without internet access to show their friends and relatives their work at the end of the school day.

  Technology

  Lambeth CLC technician George Belfield edits the students’ work

  Students’ photographs were transferred to a computer using Bluetooth technology.

  They were added to their radio report to create an audio/video file (mpeg4) using a software package called GarageBand from Apple.

  BBC News journalist Chris Moore, who passed on his news-making tips to the students, said: “There were several budding journalists buzzing with boisterous creativity. They were good at writing short reports, which is a valuable skill to have in radio journalism.”

  As well as encouraging other students to make the news with the help of the BBC, teacher Abi Kendall, is planning to organise an after-school journalism club.

  She said: “There is so much to be gained from an activity like this. The students improved their literacy skills, without even realising it, but what was particularly interesting for me was to see them working as a team.

  “There was a great deal of camaraderie and a real desire to help one another to succeed.”

  Education consultant, Liz Abbensetts, added: “It encouraged students to pool their experience – of news and technology – to help one another. It’s an incredibly motivating experience.”

  School news project

  Uryas, 12, and Ivan, 12, research their news story.

  The Year 8 pupils made news as part of BBC News School Report, which encourages students to make TV, radio and online news in their schools and publish it on a school website.

  Sixty UK schools, including Lilian Baylis, are involved in the 2006/7 pilot stage of the project which the BBC hopes to extend to all secondary schools in the future.

  School Report culminates in a national School Report News Day when all participating schools simultaneously make and publish their news on the internet.

  News reported by The BBC

  

  Tags: Mobile phones, Phone news

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